Various manufacturers are marketing equipment to mechanize the production of Cheddar and Colby cheese. This equipment provides for the mechanization of age-old methods of cheese production rather than providing new dairy-based foods with the same or better sensory and nutritional properties as cheese. This invention is based on research examining the feasibility of making new cheese foods by processes adaptable to mechanization by producing coprecipitates of milk that are then modified by extrusion processing and the addition of food additives and flavors to resemble Cheddar or processed Cheddar at lowered cost.